No heat and car's being dumb

[Shangri-laschild]

Apparently we just got our power bill from mid Dec-mid Jan. It was twice what it usually is, meaning around 200. I guess this made my roommate freak out about using power because he's made some decisions. He turned down the heaters and lights are going to be off more. This includes him turning off the outside light during the day. That's fine and all except that unless he remembers to turn it on in the evening, I'm coming home to a very dark doorway which I really really don't like. We had a nice discussion about it and he said he'd just make sure to always turn it back on (at least once every other week or so I've been coming home to it off already as it is despite me saying to always leave it on) so it wouldn't be a problem. That was irritating by itself. The fact that I woke up really cold and it's supposed to snow tonight doesn't help either. I'm used to my room sometimes being cold. I have a smaller room and the heaters are all individual room heaters. My vent is under my bed and if I turn it on the lowest setting, since I sleep with the door closed, by the time I wake up it's roasting unless it is very cold outside. The downstairs was cold too though. All this would be just fairly irritating if it weren't for our conversation right before we went upstairs. I was putting my dishes into the dishwasher and he said he was going to go ahead and run it. At this point, it's only 2/3 full and we're fine on clean dishes for the moment. I pointed out that running it when it isn't full is also going to be a drain on power and he joked that he was willing to make that sacrifice. I should state that normally, my roommate is one of the most considerate people I know. He's been very patient with my random weirdness and some of the stuff about me that might bug other roommates. We have only once had a "we need to talk" issue and it consisted of me telling him what he was doing needed to stop and him feeling really bad about it. And that was just him accidently running with a joke for too long because he thought it was still amusing me. We didn't have much time for a talk last night but there's going to be one tonight. Today I'll be doing some research. I want to find out if our power company had a rate increase (they might have, but I can't tell until he wakes up and I can get the user number from him) and information about how much power various things use, such as a spiral bulb being left on 24/7. Also trying to find out facts about insulation. For some reason I seem to be having a logic block...I know that if we have the heat on and, for instance, there's a door open and we don't know it, odds are we will spend more money because we'll be turning the heat level up to warm things. The part I'm stuck on is, since it's not a thermostat and we're just setting it to a low-hi setting, are we using more power on level 3 if the door is open than if it's not? I know with a thermostat, you use more power because it's trying to keep it at a different temperature. It has to do with the heaters, but it's also going to end up coming up again in the summer I'm sure. We have two A/C units in the house. They're in the walls, but they're basically the same as a window unit. he kept leaving windows and doors open on one floor and having the a/c going on another floor which really doesn't do much good and since we apparently have huge crickets out there, leads to me getting startled in the mornings by big bugs. Honestly though, as far as the bill being so high, I can't figure out what's up. Mid Nov-mid Dec we used probably the same amount of heat, maybe more. Dunno...

This morning, to top things off, I got to deal with car troubles. For some reason my car randomly likes to do this thing where when I put my car in park and go to turn it off, it won't turn that last little bit and let me take out the key. It's like it's not registering that it's in park. I'm thinking it's something to do with the cold but who knows. I'm just not very happy that I'll have to be taking it in somewhere. I was sitting in my car for 3 minutes this morning trying to get the damn key out before it cooperated.

[ringo]

I recommend getting a timer.

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/24-...ity-timer.html

[telecom_goddess]

I recommend getting a timer.

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/24-...ity-timer.html

I checked out the web page....and it's on back order However it didn't have a whole lot of info...can you use these to turn off just lights, or appliances (tv etc) or ?? I have problems with my kids remembering to turn stuff off and over using the heat. They forget these things take electricity and it ain't free!!

[It shouldn't]

What kind of car do you have? and what year?

Older models had a cable that went from tranny to back of ign and those sometimes stretch a bit, so pushing your shifter a bit past park and holding it there while turning the key back the rest of the way, might do the trick.

newer models its all electronic silenoids and sensors. Not much you can do but replace the worn out sensors.

[It's me]

Older models had a cable that went from tranny to back of ign and those sometimes stretch a bit, so pushing your shifter a bit past park and holding it there while turning the key back the rest of the way, might do the trick.

Might also me the steering wheel lock... try moving the steering wheel back and forth slightly as work the key.





As to your heat issue... did you check the details of your bill? Each bill should show the rate and the amount of power consumed. Also make sure no one has plugged an extension cord into an exterior outlet to steal power.........

[Shangri-laschild]

I recommend getting a timer.

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/24-...ity-timer.html

Yeah thinking about looking into that. Only issue is if it's something the landlord will freak about or want to do himself. I have no intention of letting him mess with the wiring so....

What kind of car do you have? and what year?

Older models had a cable that went from tranny to back of ign and those sometimes stretch a bit, so pushing your shifter a bit past park and holding it there while turning the key back the rest of the way, might do the trick.

newer models its all electronic silenoids and sensors. Not much you can do but replace the worn out sensors.

2006 or 2007 Ford Escape and it's one of the ones with the shifter between the front two seats so you can't push it past park. Probably means a new sensor then.

[r2cagle]

Ahem -- if you'll allow someone who works in the billing department for an 'electric' company give some advice..... first thing I'd do is have landlord make sure heating unit is serviced, and air filter replaced and see if he'll change out the type of thermostat too. And have him winterize the windows - or you can get cheap winterizing kits that are basically plastic sheets you shrink wrap over the windows. Older heating units are not very efficient especially in multi-level dwellings. Remember, hot air rises and cold air sinks, so if you have heat set for a comfort level for downstairs, it can make the upstairs really hot and stuffy... best thing to do is keep heating set between 65 - 70 degrees F. Maybe 68, which will require a different type of thermostat. Yeah and close all outside doors, and cover bottom door area with towels/rug/something...lol.

Lights aren't the biggest drain, so leaving an outside light on in the evening would only affect your bill by $2-$3 (at a cost around $.08/kwh). Your biggest drains are appliances -- heating/ac units, oven, refridgerator and water heaters. Those should be checked first.

One other tip to try is some air circulation from top to bottom, meaning use ceiling fans if you have them and reverse circulate them to push hot air back down, or use regular fans at strategic areas to circulate the warmer air back downstairs. And use that strategy in reverse in the summer as well.

Lastly, double check the bill, verify that it was an actual read and not an estimated read. Especially during the winter, it's often too dangerous for meter readers to be out during or right after bad weather. If it's an estimated bill, you can either call in with a good meter reading and get it fixed or request an actual read, or even just let it go knowing that next month when it gets read, it'll even itself out. There is some other advice, but most of that is more useful when you're the actual homeowner. I'd check and see if your utility company has a website and if they have any recommendations as well. If they've had a rate increase approved, there should be an update on their site, or it could be a fuel rate adjustment as well. There's so many things besides the actual kwh rate that affects the bill. Unfortunately, with the nonsense stuff that companies are 'required' to put on a customer bill, there's no room to show the actual breakdown of the bill.

Anyway, that's my three cents (cause we just got an approved rate increase-haha).

[Broomjockey]

r2 has a butt-ton of awesome advice, but I figure'd I'd tackle the logic portion here.

The part I'm stuck on is, since it's not a thermostat and we're just setting it to a low-hi setting, are we using more power on level 3 if the door is open than if it's not?

Forgive me if any of this comes poorly. A space heater heats space, just like a full-house heater with a thermostat. A heater doesn't just pump out heat at pre-defined amounts. So, if the door's open, you're increasing the space that needs to be heated by the space heater, so it will keep running full-blast, rather than allowing it to get up to whatever temperature the manufacturer has designated "3" to be. If you're using a space heater, close the door to the room the heater is in. The only difference between a space heater and a central heating system is the scale, and it doesn't actually tell you what the individual marks are at.

I know with a thermostat, you use more power because it's trying to keep it at a different temperature. It has to do with the heaters, but it's also going to end up coming up again in the summer I'm sure. We have two A/C units in the house. They're in the walls, but they're basically the same as a window unit. he kept leaving windows and doors open on one floor and having the a/c going on another floor

If the AC units are on the ground level, it's not as big an issue. If they're on the second level, and it's your front door open, for instance, you're not doing much beyond cooling the outside. Climate control systems work best in closed environments. That means as little interaction with the outside as possible. If the AC is going, then any room that has a window open needs its door closed.

Alternatively, use this simple rule: keep all doors closed at all times, unless you're trying to connect it to a heater, or an AC unit, and at no times should you be able to walk freely from a room with one of them going to a room that's open to the outside.

[Der Cute]

R2's right .

What I did during the coldest month of winter so far? Stopgap the doors. I folded up a blanket (you can do it with a blanky or towel etc) and put it right at the bottom of the door. I can see light outside when blanket's not there.

I also like the plastic over windows idea - that saves energy.

Another thing to do is light a candle and go near your doors/windows. Who's drafty?

Cutenoob

[Chromatix]

Insulation is the biggest thing you can do to save your heating bill. Here in Finland, triple-glazing and cavity/roof insulation are standard on even relatively old buildings, and even the oldest ones have a form of double-glazing.

The other thing is to use a more efficient method of heating. Electric heaters are usually more expensive to run than gas central heating, which in turn is more expensive than district heating. Of course if you don't have a district-heat or gas supply locally, you're out of luck, and you do have to factor in the cost of installation. You might in that case want to investigate whether solid-fuel stoves are an option, though installing those would also not be cheap.

I would echo the advice about keeping doors closed and checking if the meter reading was only estimated. You should be able to supply a genuine meter reading yourself if it was estimated. It's not clear whether your "heat setting" is a thermostat or a dumb valve, but even in the latter case the larger space being heated will result in the nearer space being colder than you expect.

If you do have a thermostat, it should be sufficient to set it to a lower temperature than you normally would. I wouldn't recommend setting it any lower than 18°C for heath reasons - even then, you will want to wear layers indoors and have a warm bed. The normal setting should be 21°C, with the maximum being 25°C. If it only has numbers on it, you may need to calibrate the numbers against a thermometer.

Finally, about the car... it could be that the transmission is taking longer to change in cold weather. Put it in park, let the engine run for a few seconds longer, then try turning it off. If it remains sluggish after the weather warms up, you will need to get it serviced.

[Shangri-laschild]

Well, I talked with my roomate and it looks like things should be fine which is good. For the most part he's an awesome roommate, it's just every so often I get really pissed off about something and then he manages to take the wind out of my sails by being awesome about things when we talk The light will be staying on all the time and while we're still keeping the heat a little bit low, that wasn't as big of a thing and things are warm enough.

As far as insulating, we're renting so there is only so much I can do. I plan on making a list of problem spots and contacting the landlord. Once they're done "fixing things" anything that still need to be fixed will be addressed with my dad. I mostly love the place and the price is great. The quality of the place itself has it's issues though. I can feel part of the wall move if I press the outlet that the wall A/C is plugged into. That and the fact that the spaces between stuff like walls and windows or walls and the A/C probably should have been sealed up a little bit better. Those are probably the most extreme though and otherwise for the most part it's stuff like the one kitchen cabinet that's slightly crooked. I'd rather pay a smaller rent and have most of the issues be stuff that my dad or I can fix. For the most part that's all it's been but I am going to talk to them about this stuff and see what can be done. (And as I said, what they won't do, I plan on having my dad look at)

The information about insulating did help though and I plan on seeing what stuff I can do. I had already put plastic over the outside of the downstairs A/C. That lead me to realize that there was air leaking between it and the wall. At the time (2am I believe) what I had was paper towels so those got stuck in and seemed to help. I keep forgetting to bring the extra blanket down and roll it up and shove it at the bottom of the slidding door but that should help some too.

As far as the car, it does only seem to happen in the cold, even after I've been driving for 15-20 minutes. I've tried everything from slamming it into park (seems to work more often than anything else), waiting, messing with the wheel, turning it back on and then off. For the most part, it seems to be more random luck than actually getting anything to work. It doesn't happen all the time, just sometimes, and I can't figure out a pattern. I had this problem last winter too but it warmed up before I got around to getting it looked at so the problem went away. I need to get it looked at this winter though and get it finally taken care of.

[Chromatix]

Lubricating oil does get thicker and more sticky in cold weather, and that can cause things to stop working intermittently. Your auto-transmission is not directly part of either the engine or the passenger compartment, so it doesn't get warmed up much while driving.

My bicycle has a freewheel that, in winter, works for the first 20 minutes after leaving the nice warm bike-shed (long enough for me to get to the supermarket), but tends to stick open after that, leaving me with no traction for getting home. It unsticks if I kick it, but then I have to keep the tension on the pedals or it openes and sticks again.

[Der Cute]

Hm.
Ever thought about getting an engine block heater? Plug that into outside outlet (it's installed as a small heating element under engine) if temp goes below 20F ....plug that in for about an hour or so. Great thing to use timers here.

That will help the car start up easier and run better, in a shorter amount of time. Used them all the time in AK - was pretty standard to have an engine block heater on a car in AK. Only ones who didn't were garaged cars and some newer ones who used thinner oil.

What part of IL are you in? North end of it, with the Canada cold front coming down? You might chat with your mechanical friends.

Cutenoob

[r2cagle]

Towels and duct tape = the poor man's insulation kit..

[Shangri-laschild]

I called the mechanic to look into taking it in. He said that it might be that the linkage is freezing and not letting it click all the way into park or something. Dunno since it acts like it's in park except for the keys. It happened again today. Managed to get them out by pulling them outward as I turned them the rest of the way. It doesn't usually work but I tried it on a whim luckily before I had tried much else.

Cutenoob - I live more in the central area, but I think we're still getting hit by the cold from that.

Last night I realized that there is a draft probably coming from my window. I'm going to have to fix that so that I stop having to use my heater as much. It's right under my bed (including the dial) and so I have to shift my mattresses to turn it on. Not to mention that it's a strong heater, a small room, and I sleep with my door closed so unless it's really cold, I end up overheated by the time I wake up.


Edit: I have found something that's worked on the car 3 times in a row (usually something will work once or twice but not in a row even). If I pull the shifter all the way back into first, and then I push it forward into park, it'll click into place and I can get the keys out.